Analyzing the Pope’s Focus on Climate Change

On September 9, 2016 Breitbart News published a report by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. of Pope Francis address on man and climate change, the damage we, as a species, have done to the planet. I take especial exception to his remarks as the Pope and I have very similar education, as our baccalaureate degrees are very similar. We were both Chemistry majors and have training in physics and biology. We can both read and understand the literature of the atmosphere which is written in that of the physical sciences. The piece begins:

“Pope Francis: Global Warming a ‘Sin,’ Man Can Atone by Recycling and ‘Car-Pooling’

In his message for the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” Thursday, Pope Francis said that human-induced global warming, as well as a loss of biodiversity are “sins” against God, which must be atoned for by planting trees, avoiding the use of plastic and paper and “separating refuse.”

“Global warming continues, due in part to human activity,” Francis said, adding that “2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still.””

AV: The Pope must know speciation, the creation and elimination of species, is the mechanism of evolution. Death is how we make way for new models. Protists are simple animals that were among the first forms ever created and they remain unchanged because they reproduce by simple cell division. They split down the middle, grow a new half and go on. The Paramecia you saw in your high school biology class microscope were three billion years old! Some of the molecules in that animal were there at the beginning of life on Earth! In one respect: This is the most successful life form on Earth. It is immortal, but it never changes, adapts or improves.

The Pope claims “2015 was the warmest year on record,” but it was not. It was 1934 and easily shown by many records, but the lie has been promoted to produce alarm in the public. He continues…

“This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events. Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact,” he wrote.

AV: We have come through a decade most notable for having had “No hurricanes.” It has been so quiet Dr. William S. Gray, aka “Doctor Hurricane,” retired saying there was nothing for him to do, “There is no reason for my profession.” This is a thought the drives most of the belief in man-caused global warming. Without all the fear we need many less people studying it. Dr. Williams continues:

“Repeatedly citing the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has “courageously and prophetically continued to point out our sins against creation,” Francis made his own a new list of such environmental sins, which include pollution, global warming and deforestation.

For human beings to “destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation,” to “degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate,” to “contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life–these are sins,” he wrote.

Summing up, the Pope stated that “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.”

Lamenting “the devastation of the environment,” Francis said that “God gave us a bountiful garden, but we have turned it into a polluted wasteland of debris, desolation and filth.”

Specifically regarding a loss of biodiversity, the Pope suggested that now there are fewer species to give glory to God.”

AV: There are more species on record than ever, but that is more likely due to our having more scientists with more powerful tools and transportation than any real increase in the number of species created. The Pope continues:

“We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behavior,” Francis said. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.”

AV: There is no physical evidence of this contention. It is just that simple, but again, we are making many more special discoveries because we can. The rate of new species production has probably been the same for a long time. Dr. Williams continues:

“The Pope said that the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was instituted in order to give believers an opportunity to “reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation.” It also furnishes an occasion to thank God for the gift of creation, to implore his help for its protection and to beg “his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”

During this Jubilee Year, “let us learn to implore God’s mercy for those sins against creation that we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed,” Francis said, while proposing that Christians need to undergo an “ecological conversion.”

AV: The ecological conversions man has made have increased the range and occurrence of selected species as well as creating new species we needed for the purpose of producing more people in the image of God! Give us a break, Pope Francis. Dr. Williams continues:

“Now is the time to “acknowledge our sins against creation,” the Pope said. “Inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage,” we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation. Let us repent of the harm we are doing to our common home,” he added.

“If our ecological conversion is real,” Francis said, “it will lead to concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more respectful of creation.”

Among these are “avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.”

AV: The Pope swerved into a few legitimate issues that can be easily dealt with, but the solutions are not “politically correct.” We take issue with him on our use of plastic and paper as they are very efficient packaging materials and likely cannot be improved. Water recycling would end our water supply problems, but consumers object. The Amazon “Rain Forest” is a fine example of numbskull environmentalism as those trees are fully grown and not sequestering CO2 in the way or amounts claimed, but the areas could if we cut down the trees, planted corn and wheat to feed people. That would consume CO2 in a way to save and improve the human condition, but the environmentalists want to reduce populations! Dr. Williams continues:

“In his message, the Pope also applauded “a growing global political consensus” regarding the environment, praising the adoption of “Sustainable Development Goals” as well as last December’s Paris Agreement on climate change, “which set the demanding yet fundamental goal of halting the rise of the global temperature.”

AV: The Pope likely knows, as well as I, that restricting CO2 will do nothing and in truth increasing CO2 renders an atmosphere that is less able to absorb infrared radiation from sunlight and will cause a cooling trend! Dr. Williams wraps:

“Apparently the pontiff’s prayers have already been heard, since scientists are now forecasting that 2017 will be a cooler year than 2016. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter.”

AV: What did I tell you! More CO2 is driving water vapor out of the atmosphere per the Le Chatelier Principle and we are continuing the cooling trend we have been in for 18 years if not 80, from 1934!

Adrian Vance is a writer and producer of educational films, filmstrips and audio programs with over 325 productions from script to screen. See a partial list of my credits at http://worldcat.org . And, have written for ten national magazines, been on the masthead of two as an Editor, done a dozen books and am an FCC licensed broadcaster with ten years of on-air experience in radio and television. See my blog, "The Two Minute Conservative" at http://adrianvance.blogspot.com where you will find over 3200 daily pieces, enough material to produce 25 novel length books.

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